Founded in 1984, Cloth House sits between two shops located on Berwick street, in London’s Soho. The fabric and haberdashery emporium houses an array of fine lace, buttons and exquisitely made textiles for dressmaking and upholstery.
The company
founders, Jay and Niki travel the globe to source the finest threads. Inspired
by Gandhi’s philosophy, “There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes
hunger and unhappiness.” They are committed to maintaining levels of
self-sufficiency for the makers and artisans. Firmly taking an environmental
standpoint by sustainably sourcing materials, avoiding leather and suede -
preferring to promote high quality alternatives.
How did Cloth
House begin?
I was a fashion
photographer and Niki was in retail working on window displays, so textiles
came quite naturally to us. 30 years ago we found an amazing old house in
Camden (hence the name Cloth House!), we just started from there, buying and
selling textiles. Now we also have two shops on Berwick Street, Soho, but we've
still got our old house in Camden, we run our online shop from there.
Sustainability
is an important consideration, particularly within the Textile Industry, how do
you source the fabrics that are sold within Cloth House?
We have always
gone directly to the source of our textile suppliers, this means that we are
able to see the set up and work closely with artisans, be they weavers,
printers, dyers and producers. We continue to work with them and repeat orders;
it is one of the reasons why we have such strong collections. It's important
that we know whom we are working with, especially with the handmade fabrics. We
want to give something back to the communities, supporting the local economies
and improving self-sufficiency.
The Cloth House blog is a great source of inspiration, do you have a favourite post?
We are fans of the Instagrammer Sayaka Shigematsu! We love the colours in her photos and the strong
feeling of 'handmade' throughout, combined with influences from the natural
world.
Cloth House is
always brimming with students, do you ever get to see their creations?
Yes, we often
get to see what they've been making on our Instagram and Twitter feeds; we love
seeing what people do with our fabrics (you can see some of them if you look up
#clothhouse).
Can you
recommend any other creative find’s within Soho?
Lena Juan the dressmaker
at 46 Berwick Street, we're always recommending her to our customers. Astrid
the florist at Liberty, she makes the most beautiful bouquets. Also Feel
Hairdressers and Sister Ray records on Berwick Street. And Year Zero on Beak
Street!
